Pakistan Security Brief - June 21, 2011

Obama to make Afghan drawdown announcement Wednesday; Pakistani brigadier arrested for ties to militants; Six Haqqani militants killed in Monday drone strike in Kurram; Car-bomb targeting anti-Taliban militia leader kills three; Government imposes Section 144 in response to Balochistan attacks; Focus of India-Pakistan talks will be terrorism; Chief Justice nominates heads for investigatory commissions on the Abbottabad raid and the Saleem Shahzad murder; Trial against rangers to close in seven days; Pakistan comes in 12th in Foreign Policy failed states index.

U.S.-Pakistani Relations

On Wednesday, President Obama will announce his plans for a U.S. troop drawdown in Afghanistan. The President is reportedly likely to order the withdrawal of 3,000-5,000 troops this July, followed by the eventual withdrawal of the 30,000 troops, added in December 2009, by 2012. President Obama is expected to outline plans for gradual withdrawal of troops leading to an Afghan security force takeover in 2014.[i]

In response to reports that the U.S. is talking to the Taliban about a political solution in Afghanistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information Mian Iftikhar Hussein warned that if the talks excluded Pakistan and Afghanistan, they “would bear no fruitful results.” He also discussed recent “border violations” by U.S. and Afghan forces and condemned the activities of NATO and Afghan forces that he described as being “against national integrity and sovereignty.”[ii]

According to the Express Tribune, U.S. military personnel “tried to crash the gate of the Frontier Corps Complex in Hayatabad, Peshawar, a few days ago.” The U.S. soldiers had lived in the complex until recently, when Pakistan requested a reduction of U.S. military personnel in the country. The soldiers were reportedly returning to the complex to retrieve their belongings. Pakistani newspaper the Express Tribune claims the U.S. soldiers “resorted to hooliganism . . . by kicking the gate and hurling abuses upon the FC personnel,” when they were refused entry. Pakistan has lodged a complaint to the U.S. ambassador, and has instructed their embassy in Washington “to raise the issue at [the] appropriate level.”[iii]

Pakistani Military Affairs

According to reports, the Pakistani military has detained a senior army officer, Brigadier Ali Khan, on charges that he has ties to the banned extremist group Hizb-ul-Tahrir. An army spokesman emphasized that the Pakistani military had a “zero-tolerance policy” when it came to ties to extremists and militants. Hizb-ul-Tahrir is an international Islamist extremist group calling for an Islamic caliphate across the Muslim world. The Hizb-ul-Tahrir has not directly used violence in Pakistan, but “many critics say it has ties to militant organizations and encourages young men to radicalism.”[iv]

On Monday, a car-bomb targeting the leader of an anti-Taliban militia killed three people outside of Peshawar. One of those killed was a 9-year-old child. AFP reports the bombing took place outside the compound of “local anti-Taliban vigilante commander Altaf Khan in the restive [Matani] suburb of Peshawar.” In a separate incident, a leader of the anti-Taliban Adezai Qaumi Lashkar and two police officers were killed in “a powerful car bomb attack at a security post in Matani Monday night.” According to The News, “[the] leader of the local Qaumi Lashkar Ijaz Bacha had established a police post . . . in the wake of frequent militant attacks on Adezai and Matani villages.” Ten people were also wounded in the attack.[vii]

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has named commission heads for the investigations of the May 2 Abbottabad raid that killed Osama Bin Laden and the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad. Justice Javeb Iqbal will lead the investigation of the Abbottabad raid, and Justice Saqib Nisar will lead the investigation of the Shahzad murder. Regarding the Shahzad investigation, The News reports Saleem Shahzad’s autopsy was performed forty-eight hours after his death.[xi]